ARS | Publication request: Residue and Food Safety Research at the USDA ARS Animal Metabolism Research Unit

Submitted to: Symposium Proceedings
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: September 20, 2009
Publication Date: November 4, 2009
Citation: Smith, D.J., Huwe, J.K., Hakk, H., Shappell, N.W., Shelver, W.L. 2009. Residue and Food Safety Research at the USDA ARS Animal Metabolism Research Unit. In: Proceedings of 4th International Symposium on Recent Advances in Food Analysis, November 4-6, 2009, Prague, Czech Republic. Poster A-54, page 33.

Technical Abstract: Consumers of food animal products worldwide increasingly expect meat products that are inexpensive and which are free of chemical contamination. In addition; they also demand that livestock production systems have minimal to negligible impacts on the environment. These expectations are difficult to achieve because of the continued development of large farms having extraordinary animal densities. These “intensive” food-animal production systems generally require the use of agricultural chemicals to reduce the negative impact of pests and disease, to increase animal efficiencies, and(or) to decrease the incidence of human pathogens in slaughter animals. Food animals raised in high density confinement systems may also be accidentally or purposely exposed to environmental contaminants such as dioxins, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), brominated flame retardants (BFRs), or pesticides. In spite of the fact that regulatory mandates have decreased the emission of dioxins by 90% in the previous decade, numerous incidents of food contamination from other sources have occurred in the last 10 years. These include dioxin-contaminated ball clay fed to chickens and catfish in the U.S. (1996), dioxin-contaminated citrus pulp fed to dairy cows in Europe (1998), PCB-laden oil recycled into livestock feed in Belgium (1999), and dioxin-contaminated mineral supplements used in numerous livestock feeds in the U.S. (2002). Each of these episodes led to recalls of tainted feeds and, in the Belgium case, to international recalls and bans on Belgian products resulting in an estimated $510 million loss to the industry.